Baroness Amos: The outcome of the discussion about the budget for the North/South Language Body for 2004–05, which includes the Ulster-Scots Agency, was reflected in the boards business plan for that year. A copy of the boards business plan will be placed in the Library.
	The delay in answering the noble Lord's Question is regretted, and was due to the need to consider freedom of information requests with an international relations dimension. That process involved discussion between a range of government departments.

Baroness Amos: The only body which keeps records in respect of community background is the Northern Ireland Community Relations Council (CRC) which provides support to festivals either on the basis of cross-community activity or else in the interests of appreciation of cultural diversity and promoting mutual understanding between the communities in Northern Ireland. The table below lists the funding allocation for festivals by the CRC.
	
		2002–03
		
			 Nationalist 2002–03£ Unionist 2002–03£ 
			 Patrick Sarsfields 473 NI Flute League Band 200 
			 Colin Festival Committee 400 Waterside Development 
			 Trust 4,800 
			 Drumaroad and Clanvaragh Community Association 400 Cairncastle LOL Larne 800 
			   St Hilda's Church 300 
			   Whiterock Festival 2,500 
			 Total 1,273 Total 8,600 
		
	
	
		
			 Other 2002–03£ 
			 Armagh Pipers Club 1,500 
			 T Makem International Festival of Song 2,000 
			 Gig n the Bann Festival 300 
			 Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival 200 
			 Two Cathedrals Festival Ltd 772 
			 McNean Environment Committee 2,100 
			 Together in Music 900 
			 ICTU 4,500 
			 Belfast Film Festival 5,000 
			 Lagan Valley Heritage and Cultural Society 1,250 
			 Coleraine Rural and Urban Network 890 
			 Ulster American Folk Park 3,000 
			 Total 22,412 
		
	
	
		2003–04
		
			 Nationalist 2003–04 Unionist 2003–04£ 
			 Feile an Phobail 7,500 Whiterock Festival 5,000 
			 Total 7,500 Total 5,000 
		
	
	
		
			 Other 2003–04 
			 Gig n the Bann 5,000 
			 T Makem International Festival of Song 2,000 
			 Chinese Welfare Association 1,500 
			 Belfast Film Festival 5,000 
			 Westbay Folk Club 3,070 
			 Mid-Ulster Cultural and Heritage Association 900 
			 Total 17,470

Baroness Amos: I refer the noble Lord to a statement on the investigation at Waterways Ireland that was jointly issued on 4 April 2005 by the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL) and the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs (DCRGA).
	The statement is available in the Library.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: The table below shows the number of asylum applications received and the number of asylum seekers per head of population in European Union countries.
	Information on the number of applications for asylum in European countries per head of population and elsewhere are published regularly in the asylum statistics available from the Library of the House and on the Home Office website at www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.
	
		Applications 1  for Asylum in European Countries and Elsewhere, Including Dependants, 2004
		
			  
			  Asylum applications 2004 Asylum applications per 1,000 ofpopulation  2 
			 Austria 24,700 3.0 
			 Belgium(3) 17,500 1.7 
			 Denmark 3,200 0.6 
			 Finland 3,900 0.7 
			 France 59,400 1.0 
			 Germany 35,600 0.4 
			 Greece(4) 4,500 0.4 
			 Ireland 4,800 1.2 
			 Italy(4) - - 
			 Luxembourg(4) 1,600 3.2 
			 Netherlands 9,800 0.6 
			 Portugal(4) 100 0.0 
			 Spain 5,400 0.1 
			 Sweden 23,200 2.6 
			 United Kingdom 40,200 0.7 
			 Total EU15 excluding   Italy 233,800 0.6 
			 Cyprus(4) 9,900 11.0 
			 Czech Republic(4) 5,500 0.5 
			 Estonia(4) * 0.0 
			 Hungary(4) 1,600 0.2 
			 Latvia(4) * 0.0 
			 Lithuania(4) 100 0.0 
			 Malta(4) 1,200 3.1 
			 Poland(4) 8,100 0.2 
			 Slovakia(4) 11,400 2.1 
			 Slovenia(4) 1,200 0.6 
			 Total EU25 excluding   Italy 272,700 0.6 
			 Other Europe   
			 Norway 7,900 1.7 
			 Switzerland 14,200 1.9 
			 Total Europe 294,900 0.6 
		
	
	(1) Figures are provisional and rounded to the nearest 100 with * less than a hundred.
	(2) Sources:
	IGC, UNHCR, 2004 World Population Data Sheet, Population Reference Bureau website, using population data for mid-2004.
	(3) Figures based on IGC data but adjusted to include an estimated number of dependants.
	(4) Figures based on UNHCR data, including dependants.
	Note:
	The following countries joined the EU on 1 May 2004: Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia.

The Earl of Listowel: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many (a) male, and (b) female 18 to 21 year olds have been held in prison in England and Wales in each of the past 10 years.

Lord Astor of Hever: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Which Royal Navy ships have been assigned, and between what dates, to NATO MCMFOR (South) over the last five years.

Lord Rooker: My honourable friend the Member Pontefract and Castleford will be responding to correspondence received from the Showmen's Guild of Great Britain shortly.

Lord Whitty: The review of policy for the long-term management of the United Kingdom's (UK's) low-level radioactive waste is the responsibility of government (i.e. UK government and the devolved administrations). The aim of the policy review programme is to issue a consultation on the policy around the turn of the year. The initial stages of the review are being overseen by the Government's Radioactive Waste Policy Group (RWPG), made up of UK government, devolved administration and regulatory body representatives. RWPG's task is to consider the issues and potential solutions, on the basis of sounding stakeholder views, and to deliver drafts of consultation material for Government to consider. The steering group that RWPG has itself established to manage its work consists of representatives of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the Department for Trade and Industry (DTI), the Ministry of Defence (MoD), the Scottish Executive (SE), the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the Environment Agency (EA), the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA). The steering group is jointly chaired by Defra and the NDA. Representation from these organisations may change over time. Steering group meetings are also attended by representatives of: British Nuclear Fuels Ltd (BNFL), the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA), British Energy (BEn), Nirex and GE Healthcare to assist with the preparation of data on the types and volumes of waste to be dealt with; University College London (UCL) which has been appointed as the independent facilitator for two stakeholder workshops to be held during the course of 2005; and Atkins Environment which is providing more general technical support to the work. The steering group's remit is to provide draft consultation material for the full RWPG to consider by around October/November 2005.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: The post of Prime Minister's Strategy Adviser is represented on the Cabinet Office Strategy Board. The current postholder is Lord Birt.
	Other posts represented on the Strategy Board are the Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Home Civil Service; the Security and Intelligence Co-ordinator and Permanent Secretary in the Cabinet Office; the Managing Director, Cabinet Office; the Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister; the Director, Economic and Domestic Secretariat; the Permanent Secretary, HM Treasury; and the Non-Executive Chair, Cabinet Office Audit and Risk Committee.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: The post of Prime Minister's Strategy Adviser is represented on the Cabinet Office Strategy Board. The current postholder is Lord Birt.
	Lord Birt was invited to join the Civil Service Reform Programme Board by the Secretary of the Cabinet and Head of the Home Civil Service.
	Lord Birt was appointed as the Prime Minister's Strategy Adviser in October 2001, before the Strategy Board and Civil Service Reform Programme Board were established.